DHS Can’t Account for 1000s of Unaccompanied Migrant Children, IG Finds
22nd August 2024
DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari released a shocking report Tuesday on the status of nearly 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children who’ve entered the country since around 2019, finding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement can’t account for an untold number of them.
According to the DHS IG, ICE has apprehended 448,820 unaccompanied migrant children since 2019.
Once ICE apprehends those children, the agency transfers them to the Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. The HHS ORR is then supposed to find shelter for those children as they go through immigration court proceedings.
However, more than 32,000 unaccompanied minors have failed to show up to their court dates—and ICE can’t account for all of them, according to the DHS IG. The DHS IG also found that ICE hasn’t served notices for more than 291,000 unaccompanied minors to appear for court—meaning that many of them could be unaccounted for, too.